Friday Night Blessings

Friday Night Blessings

1. We welcome Shabbat by lighting two candles.

Having lit them, you might focus by symbolically drawing the light in and then covering your eyes.

After saying the blessing we open our eyes and see the Shabbat candles burning bright.
Now Shabbat is here. Shabbat shalom!

2. Blessing over a cup of wine or grape juice.

We make Shabbat holy by reciting kiddush, a blessing over a symbol of joy – a cup of wine or grape juice.

Some do this straight after lighting the candles; other wait until just before the meal (and Ha-motzi).

The Friday night Kiddush has three components:
(i) Vay’chulu: a Biblical quotation about God’s Shabbat, resting on the seventh day after six days of creation.
(ii) Borei p’ri ha-gafen: the regular blessing for ‘fruit of the vine’.
(iii) M’kaddeish ha-shabbat: the blessing for the day of Shabbat.

3. Washing our hands and the blessing over bread.

N’tillat yadayim Washing our hands (ritually – they should already be clean!) is a prelude to Ha-motzi, the blessing over bread. Because the two are so closely connected, there is a custom of not talking between n’tillat yadayim and ha-motzi.
Most people wash their hands and then recite the blessing while drying them.

There are two loaves of challah, a ‘double portion’ for Shabbat.

The first bit of challah symbolically begins the shabbat feast that might follow.

B’teiavon, enjoy your meal!

Sun, 15 September 201915 Elul 5779

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